Credit card cloud may have silver lining for Labour leader

Shane Jones. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Phil Goff has succeeded in doing as much as was probably possible on his part to minimise the damage to Labour from last week's exposure of the serial credit card abuse by some of the party's former ministers.

As they say, it is an ill wind that does not blow someone some good. The Labour leader may have done himself a power of good by moving swiftly and firmly in demoting Shane Jones, Chris Carter and Mita Ririnui.

Even before the boxes of documents cataloguing the misuse of credit cards issued to ministers during Labour's time in office were released to journalists, Goff realised his handling of this tawdry episode would be subject to judgment as much as the behaviour of those he has demoted.

He consequently used the time between winding up his trip to China to his arrival back in New Zealand to good effect by publicly hanging the miscreants out to dry for several days so there was continuing exposure of Labour's contrition prior to him formally taking tough action on his return home.

Goff also wisely separated the announcement of the demotions from tomorrow's announcement of those who will be promoted in their places - thereby keeping the focus today on punishment.

Shane Jones had already accepted his demotion from Labour's front bench last week. Chris Carter has not accepted his removal was justified. But there will be little sympathy for him either inside the Labour caucus or outside.

Believing he fulfilled the official requirements in how he used the card, Mita Rirunui will feel the hardest done by. But his punishment is comparatively light.

Goff even tried to grab a piece of the moral high ground yesterday by suggesting that if he were prime minister, he would abolish the practice of ministers having taxpayer-funded credit cards altogether.

He was also willing to "consider" opening up of the workings of the secretive Parliamentary Service Commission to greater transparency through making it subject to the Official Information Act.

Goff's prime task, however, was to limit the damage to Labour.

The misuse of public money will make Labour's job of holding the Government to account that much more difficult - especially in the thrust and counter-thrust of Parliament. But only temporarily. Neither Goff nor other members of the upper echelon of the caucus beyond Carter have been seriously damaged by this episode. And National itself is not squeaky-clean either.